Britain's men's sprint team 'the envy of the cycling world', says Hoy

That's the view of a man in the know – cycling legend Chris Hoy, a six-time Olympic champion and one of the country's most successful athletes of all time.

Hoy spearheaded Great Britain's sprint team in the individual, team and keirin events throughout a long period of success before retiring in 2013.

The likes of Jason Kenny, Philip Hindes and Callum Skinner have carried on Hoy's mantle, with more and more talent being reeling off the British Cycling production line all the time.

The latest stars on the cusp of breaking through are Jack Carlin, Joe Truman and Ryan Owens, who have won World Cup golds and a European silver since Rio 2016 in the absence of more senior riders.

And with the National Track Championships looming next weekend, Hoy believes it wll be a great chance for the riders to seize their opportunity.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for sprinting in Britain," said Hoy. "Ryan, Jack and Joe have made fantastic progress in the last 18 months, and with Jason, Callum and Phil back in the fold, our strength in depth is the envy of the rest of the world.

"Track Nationals is the start of a busy period, with the World Championships and Commonwealth Games following so soon afterwards, so it'll be very interesting to see which riders are able to steal a march on everyone else early on in the year, and claim those national champion's jerseys at the same time."

Sportsbeat 2018